USGA Names World Amateur Team

The United States Golf Association has selected the three players who will represent the USA at the 2014 World Amateur Team Championship, to be played September 10-13 at Karuizawa 72 Golf East in Karuizawa, Japan.

"These three young men have earned their places on the USA Team with their golf and their off-course achievements," said Daniel B. Burton, USGA vice president and chairman of the USGA's International Team Selection Committee. "The USGA is privileged to have them join the company of outstanding amateurs who have competed for our country in the past, such as William Campbell, Jack Nicklaus, Curtis Strange, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler as USA World Amateur Team players."

Past USGA president Jim Hyler, who served on the USGA Executive Committee from 2004-11 and was integral to the success of the 1999 and 2005 U.S. Opens at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, will serve as captain of the USA World Amateur Team.

"It is an honor to serve as the captain of these talented young men at the World Amateur," Hyler said. "The accomplishments of each member of the team reflect their talents and I am looking forward to seeing them compete against the world's best in Japan."

DeChambeau, a junior at Southern Methodist University, is No. 29 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). He advanced to the third round of the 2014 U.S. Amateur as well as the quarterfinals of the 2014 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, where he lost to eventual champion Byron Meth. He also earned a place in the round of 16 at the Western Amateur after tying for second in stroke play. DeChambeau was on the 2014 USA Palmer Cup team and was a semifinalist for the Ben Hogan Award. He earned second-team All-America honors and finished ninth individually at the 2014 NCAA Men's Division I Championship and won the American Athletic Conference Championship. DeChambeau was also an All-American Athletic Conference pick and was named to the PING All-Central Region team. In 2013, he won the Trans-Mississippi Amateur and was the runner-up at the California State Amateur.

Hossler, a sophomore at the University of Texas, is No. 12 in the WAGR. He advanced to the first round of match play at the 2014 U.S. Amateur. Hossler won the 2014 Western Amateur as well as the 2013 and 2014 Southern California Golf Association Amateur. He was also co-runner-up at the Porter Cup and tied for fourth at the Southern Amateur. As a freshman at Texas in 2014, he earned honorable mention All-America honors and was the Big 12 Conference newcomer of the year, as well as an all-conference choice. He also earned first-team all-Big 12 academic honors. He made the cut at the 2012 U.S. Open and was in the top 10 the first three days before finishing tied for 29th.

McCarthy, a senior at the University of Virginia, is No. 14 in the WAGR. Playing in his sixth U.S. Amateur in 2014, he advanced to the semifinals, losing to runner-up Corey Conners in a match that went to the 18th hole. He was a second-team All-America selection in 2014 during a season in which he finished sixth individually at the NCAA Division I Men's Championship with a 54-hole score of 4 under par. He was also the Atlantic Coast Conference runner-up and is a three-time first-team all-ACC selection. He tied for second at the 2014 Porter Cup with a final-round 65. In 2012, he was the ACC freshman of the year. In 2010, he was a semifinalist at the U.S. Junior Amateur.

The alternates are, in order of ranking: Brian Campbell, 21, of Irvine, Calif.; and Scottie Scheffler, 18, of Dallas, Texas.

The World Amateur Team Championship was founded in 1958 and the Women's World Amateur Team Championship began in 1964. The International Golf Federation (IGF) was founded in 1958 to encourage the international development of golf through friendship and sportsmanship. Today, the IGF consists of 137 national governing bodies of golf representing 131 countries, and is the international federation for golf for the International Olympic Committee. One of its main functions is to conduct the biennial World Amateur Team Championships for men and women. It will conduct the golf competition at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and is conducting the golf competition at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games this month in China.

The 2014 World Amateur Team Championship will be contested on the Oshitate and Iriyama Courses and hosted by the Japan Golf Association. The World Amateur Team Championship was last played in 2012 in Antalya, Turkey, with the USA winning the Eisenhower Trophy for a record 14th time.

The 2016 championship will be hosted by the Mexican Golf Federation and will be contested at El Camaleón Golf Club and the Grand Coral Riviera Maya Resort in Cancun, Mexico.

The above report is courtesy of the USGA. For more information, visit www.usga.org. &nbs